Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--During Thursday [Nov. 8] ceremonies, Mississippi State officials, students and guests commemorated the start of a new academic program focused on African-American studies.
College Board member Bob Owens of Jackson, university President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong and Stephen Middleton, the program's recently appointed director, were among those taking part.
"This program is about diversity and understanding other cultures," Foglesong said. "It is not for African-Americans; it's not for Caucasians; it's for Americans."
Middleton echoed Foglesong's sentiments that the curriculum will not be restricted just to a particular group.
"Dr. Foglesong had a dream of participating in an ongoing dialogue about diversity," Middleton said.
Also during the program, Middleton presented Foglesong with the program's first leadership award for his support in establishing the new academic effort.
Citing poet Emily Dickinson's philosophy of "dwelling in possibilities," Middleton said the program's ultimate goal is "to improve the educational experience of our students and contribute to our state."
Keynote speaker Jacqueline Wade, a black studies curriculum specialist and Middle Tennessee State University faculty member, told the standing-room only assembly "you have not gone wrong, and you will never go wrong offering students a chance to broaden their social and economic backgrounds."
By embracing a program focusing on the heritage and contributions of African-Americans, she said "you have a chance to impact and transform all areas of scholarly offerings.
"MSU's program will help us see the American world through a window rather than a mirror reflecting a dominant culture," Wade said.
Commenting on a performance earlier in the program by the Black Voices student choral group, she told the singers, "You now will have a chance not only to perform the music from a particular heritage, you should study it as well."
An interdisciplinary minor in the College of Arts and Sciences, African-American studies will include courses in anthropology, English, history, music, political science, and sociology.
For more information about the program, see www.aas.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.